Alfa Romeo Junior - Milano genes, made in Poland

The Alfa Romeo Junior is the first Alfa built in Poland, and a product with a great deal in common with other Stellantis vehicles. Despite such extensive sharing of components, the result is a car that stands out.

We have got used to the name “Junior” by now, but the Italians' plan was quite different. The Junior made its debut as the “Milano”, but this provoked the fury of the Italian authorities and a hasty name change by the manufacturer. It turned out that products made outside Italy cannot bear names referring to Italian geography.

Design and the Veloce interior

Although the Alfa Romeo Junior shares the same platform as the Jeep Avenger, Fiat 600, Peugeot e-2008 and Opel Mokka-e, consumers see it as a significantly different car. It is worth adding that the first two are also built on the same production line, at the plant in Tychy. The Alfa stands out in its styling, its solutions and its handling. The Alfa Romeo Junior is boldly designed, and whichever angle you look at it from, it is a visually attractive car. Especially in red, like the car we tested. But then, neither Jeep nor Fiat has such a pronounced sporting gene in its image.

This applies especially to the most powerful Veloce version, which has a 280 hp motor under the bonnet and Sabelt seats trimmed in leather and Alcantara inside. The seats are very heavily bolstered and hold you firmly, and the backrests even have cut-outs. The three-spoke steering wheel also has sections trimmed in Alcantara. It provides a welcome counterbalance to the hard plastics, of which there are a few too many in the interior of a car with justified premium ambitions. Driving the Alfa at night is extra exciting: the brand's emblem appears in many places, even on the round air vents, where it is discreetly lit in red.

In front of the driver is a rectangular display in a housing formed by two tubes. For purists this will be an unacceptable compromise, but it has to be said that, thanks to the well-matched shades of black of the individual elements, you have to look very closely to notice this cosmetic flaw. What is more, the round virtual dials are easy to read and offer some, rather limited, configuration. The panoramic screen on the centre console is a common feature of Stellantis models, but in the Junior it is angled towards the driver, in keeping with Alfa tradition.

Above the screen there are four physical buttons, for the hazard lights and the central locking. There are also physical buttons in the lower part of the centre panel.

Battery, range and drive modes

The Alfa Romeo Junior has a battery with a usable capacity of 50.8 kWh, which can be charged at up to 100 kW. The range is not staggering: just 410 km (WLTP combined cycle). The Alfa Romeo Junior has a 400-litre boot, 40 litres more than its twin, the Fiat 600e. The boot floor is adjustable, which lets you keep the charging cables separate from the luggage.

The Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce has a drive mode selector, with Dynamic, Natural and Advanced Efficiency modes. Dynamic mode delivers maximum performance, sharpens the steering and pedal response and minimises ESP intervention. Natural is an intermediate mode, with less highly strung performance. Advanced Efficiency mode additionally limits torque to 300 Nm. In the Veloce version we tested, the car gets more direct steering, suspension lowered by 2.5 cm, sports dampers and thicker anti-roll bars. The Junior Veloce weighs 1560 kg; the relatively low weight is down to the small-capacity battery.

The exterior dimensions of the Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica Veloce are: 4173 mm long, 1505 mm high and 1781 mm wide (excluding door mirrors).

The test car had 20-inch Venti alloy wheels. Other versions, such as the Alfa Romeo Junior Elettrica, Elettrica Sprint, Elettrica TI and Elettrica Sport Speciale, use 18-inch Fori wheels.

Test summary

The Alfa Romeo Junior proves that even with widely shared technology it is possible to create a car with a distinctive character and the emotions that set the Italian brand apart. Built in Tychy, the electric Alfa, especially in Veloce form, combines Stellantis's modern technology with bold design, sporty handling and details that create a special atmosphere behind the wheel. Although it is not without compromises (the interior solutions and the range), it can give the driver genuine thrills. It turns out that “made in Poland” can mean a car with a truly Italian temperament.